Guest blog: Enviro-docu-series exploring the changing state of Canada's greatest natural landmark; Algonquin Park
Guest blog by Jacob Ide. Photos provided by the Trip Report team.
So excited to welcome them to the Paws For Reaction extended family!
Early in 2020, Craig Myers and I were sitting on the set of a short film discussing our next projects. Craig had recently begun taking a course on sustainability, and I had been kicking around the idea of making a travel series focused on exploring our backyard. Through two days of chatting, we honed in on shooting a series in Algonquin Park. Craig is from Ottawa, and I am from Hamilton, but we both grew up with a connection to camping and cottage country, so the draw to the park was pretty natural. As we prepared the project, Brad and Mitch joined on as our cinematography team, both of them having a love for cinematography and exploring the natural world made it a perfect fit.
One of the main focuses of our series is the exploration of Native & Western history within the park. We look forward to diving into the rich history within the park. By speaking to members of the indigenous community, we hope to learn about the value Algonquin holds from their perspective. We are most excited to learn the traditions of the area and to get a chance to learn from a community that has a history spanning thousands of years within the region. We are also looking forward to learning about our own western culture within the park, from the hearty loggers of the eighteen-hundreds to the more recent artists and adventurers of the twentieth century. We believe looking at both sides of Algonquin's history will give audiences a complete understanding of Algonquin's significance and value to all Canadians.
Another goal throughout the series is to focus on conservation and sustainability within Algonquin Park. Algonquin is a resource to be protected and enjoyed, not used up, and then forgotten about. Our goal is to demonstrate this to our audience. Creating a dialog that's relatable and open is key to our team, by getting into the park to follow and learn from experts and the challenges they are facing daily we are hoping to break down an informational barrier and present audiences with a more human look at the issues. We want to start taking a step in the right direction that focuses on the issues and the potential solutions, rather than focusing on pointing fingers. Like with all of the other focuses of the series, we are looking to learn, not to teach by presenting viewers with expert opinions and evidence but removing any conversation of blame, we hope that our series will be more approachable to audiences on all sides of the debate.
Finally, we will be looking at two groups of the Algonquin community who view the park as a constant source of inspiration. We will be speaking to the adventurers who trek out into the isolated backcountry, who look for a new challenge every day, and who use the rugged environment to test their metal. As well as the artists who spend their nights and days looking for new jaw-dropping sights, searching for sources of astonishment and use the park as a haven for creativity. By learning from both of these groups we hope to gain an honest appreciation for the brutal realities of man versus nature, and a poetic appreciation for the wonders of the natural world.
So, this is a call to action to members of the Algonquin community, from car campers to north men, from day-trippers to trailblazers. If Algonquin Park is as important to you as it is to us, please join us on our journey, reach out to us, share your stories because this is a communal effort, and we can't do it without you.
Trip Report: Algonquin will highlight history, conservation, exploration, and appreciation of Algonquin Park. Visit to get in touch with the team on Instagram to get involved in the project or make a donation! You can also learn more about the team on Facebook and Vimeo.
